Katy's Day Eight and Nine

Happy Halloween!  I want some candy.

This was one of the hardest days just because of the candy everywhere!!  I was thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder and how excited they would get about fruit and frozen maple syrup.  It's the overexposure I have to candy and processed foods.  My roommate has a nutty bar in a cupboard which everyday I open and remember the satisfying crunch, the chocolate and peanut butter.  Which leads me to think about Little Debbie (a former best friend) and her Swiss Cake Rolls.  Put them in the freezer....mmm.  And all the Reeses around.  Yikes.

Anyway.  Wendy and I stashed a few pieces of candy for after Thanksgiving :) 

Day Eight I had a green monster for breakfast, and asparagus with sunny side up eggs for dinner.  Delish.  I added a little olive oil and fresh cracked black pepper...mmmm.  For lunch I was supposed to have Chicken Bacon Alfredo but I just couldn't bring myself to eat it again.  Still yummy...I was just over it :)  I had the usual nuts, dried apples, etc for snacks.  I made Sweet Potato Chips however I think the microwave doesn't cook evenly because the outside chips burned and the inside weren't cooked completely.  So it's back to the dehydrator!!

Day Nine I had a green monster for breakfast, leftover asparagus and eggs for lunch and Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner.  Side note: Next time I'm at the grocery store I need more cinnamon.  I accidentally burned dried bananas by not turning them off in time...lame.  During the day I snacked on dried apples and pistachios.

Wendy's Day 8 & 9

The last two days have been a blur.  I have been feeling great, but also feel like I have been working in the kitchen way more than any normal person should.  This Whole30 thing takes a lot more work, but I have to admit that I like having an excuse to try new recipes.  Yesterday was the easiest day so far.  Today was Halloween, and I was dying for some of the candy that was going around the office.  I also really want a pumpkin pie shake.  Only 21 more days, right?

Day 8

Breakfast: Sweet potato fries, pineapple, and 2 boiled eggs.

Lunch:  Leftover Pot Roast Soup.

Dinner:  Salmon Cakes (Recipe from Practical Paleo) and a salad with avocado dressing.  The salmon cakes were easy - only about 20 minutes to make, and super delicious.  Another recipe to add to my "make again" list!

Snacks:  Almonds, Tea with Coconut Milk

Day 9

Breakfast:  Sweet potato fries, pineapple, and 2 boiled eggs.

Lunch: Leftover Pot Roast Soup (really good, but glad it is gone).

Dinner:  Cabbage Rolls with Cranberry Dressing.  These were good, but were very time consuming and difficult to make.  Not worth it.

Snacks: Almonds, Tea with Coconut Milk

Katy's Day Seven

And one week bites the DUST!

Today I ate a green smoothie for breakfast, Chicken Bacon Alfredo for lunch, and Pumpkin Pancakes for dinner (SO GOOD!).  I snacked on dried bananas, pistachios and a Lara Bar Cashew Cookie (not good).  Seriously though.  The Pumpkin Pancakes were a great substitute for something starchy that you can bite into.  They are dense but I added the smashed banana and I loved that subtle flavor.  Wendy was thinking of adding pecans (brilliant) and I'm thinking adding some applesauce with a little cinnamon could be yummy.

Here is my self assessment one week in.  

I don't eat enough vegetables.  Big surprise.  The constant snacking makes it so my meals are glorified snacks and if I have the choice between chicken with veggies or just chicken...I'll pass on the veggies.  

I still have that desire to gorge (or 'mange' as I used to say in France).  Maybe not necessarily on sweets but something.  Since I've started dehydrating fruit I will eat through a whole bag of dehydrated apples (we're talking seven dehydrated apples) in one sitting.  

This leads me to the perpetual question...should I change my snacking habit?  Who knows.  In the past when I have tried to change it turns into full meals and snacking which isn't good.  I feel like my body does just fine eating every few hours but I have to start focusing on eating healthier (which is ironic considering what I'm limiting myself to eating right now).

Enough Rambling.  So I'm going to focus on eating more vegetables this week and try to be more mindful about my eating (gorging/binging/etc.).  Which means I will sit down at the kitchen table when eating dinner.  I will use the Formula for Change from Ana Forrest to help:

1. Catch yourself doing behavior
2. Take many deep breaths to reset your energy
3. Congratulate yourself for having caught behavior
4. Take a step that puts you in a healing path or direction (as you do this you will develop a repertoire of steps)  

My step will be assessing if I'm actually hungry or just used to eating/snacking.  Brushing my teeth or a Listerine Strip (Whole30?!) also helps if I'm not actually hungry :)

Well hasn't this gotten a little existential? :)   

Wendy's Day 7: One week down!

Today is the first day since starting this thing that I have felt somewhat normal.  I'm still a little tired, but not nearly as tired as I was all weekend.  One thing that really surprised me was how little I thought about food today.  I did look up some recipes and talk about it a little bit, but I usually start thinking around 3pm that I need a snack.  Today I hardly even thought about food except for when I was eating my meals.  I swear that I thought about food every 20 minutes before starting this thing.  I also went on another run today and it went much better than Saturday.  So, overall I am feeling really great about today.  I am hoping that the hard part is over and I can keep it up.

Breakfast:  Leftover Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes, 2 boiled eggs, raspberries.

Lunch:  Leftover Pot Roast Soup, Applesauce.

Dinner:  Buffalo Chicken Tacos (in lettuce wraps of course).

Snacks:  Larabar, almonds.

After Dinner Snack:  Herbal Chai tea with some coconut milk.   YUM!

Katy's Day Six

I woke up and ate some dried apples and a hard boiled egg.  Had a snack of pecans, cashews and macadamia nuts.  Dehydrated some bananas.  Ate left over Chicken Bacon Alfredo and then ate some of the dehydrated bananas.

I am a snack-er.  Even when I eat a sit down meal I won't eat very much because I've been snacking!  So this week I'm going to try and have more ready made snacks available.  I'll keep up with fruits, vegetables and hard boiled eggs.  I want to make plantain chips to eat with guacamole and some meatballs with sun-dried tomatoes.  I bought some peppers that I can grill kabob style :)

I'm feeling good though!  Not too tired and not too crave-y.  I went to a meeting where they pulled a pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven and then smothered them with cream cheese frosting right in front of me.  It smelled delicious but I didn't even really want them.  However I did go a little nutzo with the dried apples :)  Again with the snacking!!

Wendy's Day 5 & 6: Awesome New Recipes

So, I wish I had taken some pictures of the new recipes I tried this weekend, but my descriptions will have to suffice.  I tried a few new things including: Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes, Homemade Mayo, Avocado Lime Dressing and Pot Roast Soup.  I also successfully ate out without ruining my Whole30 (Thanks Chipotle).  I am still feeling more tired than usual, but I think it is slowly getting better.  So here's the meal wrap-up...

DAY 5

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with hot sauce,  leftover sweet potato fries, and 1/2 of an apple.  Helpful Hint: this is not a good combination to eat right before running....terrible sideaches.  But the good news is that I am done with that frittata!

Lunch:  Salad with greens, mushrooms, grapes, shredded carrots and chicken.  Topped with this avocado-cilantro salad dressing that I found online: http://masteringtheartofpaleocooking.com/2012/03/11/avocado-cilantro-salad-dressing/.  I HATE HATE HATE cilantro so I left it out, but it was still delicious.  This was a big hit with my husband and me.  I think I will be eating way more salads now that I have found this lovely gem.  It was very quick, easy, and delicious.

Dinner: I did not feel like cooking so I perused the internet and found that you can get the salad at Chipotle with just carnitas, pico de gallo, and guacamole.  Pretty good. 

DAY 6

Breakfast:  Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes.  I found this recipe in the Practical Paleo book that I purchased.  These were also a big hit.  I added a smashed banana into the batter to give it some sweetness because I can't eat maple syrup. 

Lunch:  Chicken Salad with homemade mayo.  I make this chicken salad all the time, but this time I got to experiment with making my own mayo to go with it.  I found the recipe in the back of the It Starts With Food book.  5 ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, egg, salt, and dry mustard) and I was amazed that I could whip up my own mayo in the blender.

Dinner:  Pot Roast Soup http://paleoonabudget.com/2012/10/16/pot-roast-soup/.  I haven't tried it yet, but it smells delicious.

Katy's Day Five

I am going to be very excited when I start feeling awesome.  Because I'm still very tired and also a little weak.  May have not been the best day to clean out rain gutters :) 

Today I ate (big surprise) raspberries, hard boiled eggs, a Lara Bar...my favorite so far...Apple Pie (the little hint of cinnamon), pistachios, left over Chicken Bacon Alfredo AND dried apples.  I dehydrated six trays and managed to eat them all.  I'll probably dehydrate more tomorrow.  They are the perfectly satisfyingly sweet and chewy snack. 

I haven't remembered dreams for a long time and last night I dreamt about Paris (with the thought of why don't I live here again?), my ex-husband's family crossing a river, and intruders at the cabin.  Very lively evening.

Katy's Day Four

Today was a herculean effort!

My roommate and I hosted a friends birthday party with the the invitation to bring your favorite snack foods.  Craziness!

Our kitchen table had: Coconut M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, Reeses small and large cups, Pumpkin Cookies, Cheese and Crackers, Almond Cake (which everyone raved about), Cupcakes and Milky Ways.  Torturous!!  I endured though.  I made sure to eat some raspberries just before and stayed clear of the kitchen.

Today I had a smoothie for breakfast, hard boiled eggs for lunch and made the Chicken Bacon Alfredo for dinner.  SO good.  I switched out the delicata squash for sweet potato just like Wendy.  The squash definitely needed to cook longer than 25 minutes.  I should be able to eat it for quite a few days.  Mmmm.

I am definitely tired.  Not too grumpy and not too many cravings...just visible temptations :)

Wendy's Day 4: Just Tired

I am still feeling tired.  I was really tired all day today, but haven't had bad headaches or any other negative symptoms.  I have been sleeping really well, but I never really had any trouble sleeping so I don't know if it's related to the Whole30.  I am going running tomorrow for the first time since starting my Whole30 and I am pretty nervous about having enough energy. 

Breakfast: Leftover Frittata with bacon, grapes (I would like to add that I am so happy that dang frittata is gone so that I can be motivated to try some other breakfast items.  Maybe I am just not a frittata person, but I was not feeling it.)

Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Bacon Alfredo.

Dinner:  Salmon, sweet potato fries (homemade), and a salad with balsalmic vinegar.

Good Night!

Katy's Day Three

Staying strong with my green smoothies!  Not bored with them yet.  Today I thought I added too much coconut milk...it was delicious!! :)  For lunch I had left over roasted cauliflower soup with bacon.  I'm thinking that added roasted peppers or sun dried tomatoes would be delish (as my Grandmother would say).  For dinner I ate left over rotisserie chicken from Costco with some raspberries.  I snacked on the Key Lime Pie Luna bar, raspberries (these are life savers), nuts and hard boiled eggs. 

I had full intentions to make Wendy's version of the Chicken Bacon Alfredo but after mowing a wet lawn (I completely understand now) I just wanted to eat something and crawl in bed.  

I got this vegetable and fruit slicer in the mail today!  Very excited to make zucchini/cucumber/etc. noodles and possible sweet potato chips.  I immediately took and apple and sliced it up thinking it would work for the food dehydrator that I used all summer but the apple slices were just a little to thin.  Didn't stop me from sneaking some during the dehydrating process :)

So I definitely feel tired.  However I've been fortunate so far in that my cravings are not overwhelming.  Although my roommate brought home Papa John's pizza Wednesday which was torturous!!  I just ate a few raspberries and left the room :)

Wendy's Day 3: Must...Have....Willpower...

So, I have been really tired today.  Not exceptionally grumpy, but just feeling a little bit blah.  I'm hoping this phase doesn't last very long.  To top it off, I went to visit my parents and sisters and got offered chips, hamburgers, and pumpkin cookies all within a 1 hour period.  Then, I went to a Halloween event at Red Butte Gardens and my husband's boss had hot chocolate and doughnuts for everyone.  I stayed strong, but it was not easy.  I really hope that what they say is true and that the first week is the hardest!

Breakfast:  Leftover Frittata with bacon, red grapes.

Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Bacon Alfredo from yesterday.

Dinner:  Leftover Paleo Tacos from Tuesday.

As you can see, it was a day of leftovers.

Katy's Day Two

I am tired!

Not sure if it is Whole30 related but I am.  Throughout the day my energy slowly disappeared.  I kept eating snacks but maybe the healthy whole snacks are just no match for my quick (but not lasting) sugar fixes.

I had another green monster smoothie for breakfast.  Ate raspberries, nuts and kiwi berries throughout the day.  I tried the Blueberry Muffin Lara Bar which wasn't terrible and definitely satisfied my desire to sink my teeth into something.  For dinner I had three hard boiled eggs.  I steamed them instead of boiling them which is absolutely brilliant.  They peel SO much easier. 

I realized today that I just didn't feel hungry for the food I was allowed to eat or had prepared to eat.  I need to work on making food more appetizing (avocados please ripen soon)!

Wendy's Day 2: Still feeling good, but a little grumpy

Day 2 has been a little harder than yesterday.  I felt great in the morning, but as the afternoon wore on, I started getting tired and grumpy.  However, once I got home and ate a DELICIOUS dinner, things were looking up.

Breakfast:  Same frittata as yesterday, but topped with bacon, which I must say is much better than salsa!  Also 1/2 of a banana.

Lunch:  Same as yesterday.

Snacks:  Almonds, an apple, and a few grapes.

Dinner:  I found this Chicken Bacon Alfredo recipe on http://paleomg.com/leftovers-chicken-bacon-alfredo/.  I didn't have a delicata squash, so I baked a sweet potato instead and pureed it with the coconut milk.  SO GOOD!  This took a little bit of time, but I will definitely be making it again.

Chicken Bacon Alfredo on Spaghetti Squash

Katy's Day One

Wendall you took pictures and everything!!  Very cute :)

For breakfast I had a green smoothie (bananas, strawberries, spinach with a little coconut milk and water).  I now understand why it's called a green monster...it looks disgusting.  However it truly wasn't bad.  Unfortunately the weather is not favorable for smoothies. 

Throughout the day I had an apple, carrots, roasted chicken and a few nuts.  One of my concerns doing Whole30 is that limiting the foods I can eat, will limit how much I eat, which means in a few days I'll snap and devour Patrick's pumpkin filled with candy.   Wendy if you see that 'crazy look in my eye' you have permission to tackle me :)

I am currently roasting cauliflower to make Roasted Cauliflower Soup.  I plan on adding some crispy crunchy bacon since my natural instinct would be to load it up with sharp cheddar cheese!  I think I'll have enough to freeze and do leftovers for lunch and possibly dinner again too.

The worst temptation is opening the fridge which still has Nycole's Cookie Cheesecake bars!!  Raspberries are totally better (for you) which is why the flat of raspberries in the fridge has almost been devoured.  Another trip to Costco may be in store.  

I need to start dehydrating fruit for these sugar cravings!!
 

Wendy's Day 1: No sugar, not dying....yet

Day 1 hasn't been too bad.  I think it would have been better if I hadn't eaten all of those cheesecake bars/grilled cheese sandwiches/bean burritoes yesterday.  I tried to plan all of my meals for the week and keep it simple so that I don't get overwhelmed.

Breakfast:  Frittata made with 8 eggs mixed together with sauteed onions, spinach, and mushrooms and baked for about 15 minutes.  I may have ingested some Teflon because the bottom of my pan decided to peel off and stick to the food.  Also ate a banana.

Lunch:  Salad made with baby greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, grilled chicken, black olives, and dressing (olive oil & balsalmic vinegar), applesauce.


Dinner:  Paleo tacos - ground beef, Paleo taco seasoning (which I got online, but can't find the link), tomatoes, salsa, and olives all put inside of a leaf of butter lettuce.

Snacks:  Almonds, pomegranate, and some sugar snap peas.

Now I am going to sign off and finish this episode of Cupcake Wars because once these sugar cravings hit, I am going to have to stop watching this show.  How's it going with the rest of my DWS team?

Whew!

Well, I think I tried eating every last bad thing I could think of. I'm stuffed. I think I ate enough to be full for the next 30 days.

Woohoo! Go team :) Remember, tonight is your Last Dinner so choose wisely because tomorrow we start the heavy lifting.

Largely concerned with food...

We (Wendy, Loggins and Katy) are doing the Whole30 diet/challenge/nose-dive from October 23 to November 21 (conveniently the day before Thanksgiving). 

Here are a few of the websites that have inspired/committed us: 

Whole 9 Life  
The Clothes Make the Girl  
Paleo on a Budget  
Chow Stalker
Nom Nom Paleo